Waste to Resource
Elaboration of eight operational objectives
Annex 1 to the Letter to the House of Representatives headed Implementation of the Waste to Resource programme
January 2014
Contents
Introduction
1.Promoting sustainability at the front of the chain
Ensuring the circular design of products
Closing local and global cycles
2.Making consumption patterns more sustainable
Developing an approach to sustainable consumption patterns based on behavioural knowledge
Strengthening the role of the retail sector, thrift stores and repair companies
Using the purchasing power of the government to create a circular economy
3.Improving waste separation and collection
Minimising the quantity of residual Dutch waste in incineration plants
Facilitating municipalities in improving waste separation and collection
Inspiring households to improve their separation of waste
Separating waste from offices, shops and public spaces
4.Focusing existing waste policy on a circular economy
Identifying and eliminating unnecessary obstacles in legislation
Stimulating the application of end-of-waste status
Promoting recycling through a level European playing field for waste
Creating scope for innovation in legislation and in standards
5.Adopting an approach to specific material chains and waste streams
Setting up a support desk for a material chain approach
Accelerating specific material chains such as the one for plastics
Stimulating high-quality recycling in each material chain
Using residual biotic streams in a high-quality way
6.Developing financial and other market incentives
Stimulating the use of new business models
Driving the dissemination of knowledge and widespread use of innovative solutions
Adapt landfill tax rules to ensure they tie in with promoting the circular economy
7.Connecting knowledge and education to the circular economy
Setting up knowledge and education programmes for WastetoResource
Focusing European research programmes on the circular economy
Making the Netherlands a circular hotspot
8.Simplifying measurement methods, indicators and certification labels
Harmonising and standardising methods and indicators
Improving information about waste streams
Commitments and motions concerningWastetoResource
Introduction
The Waste to Resource programme is this Cabinet’s effort to stimulate the transition to a circular economy during its term of office. This document elaborates eight operational objectives in the sequence of the value chain.
A broad, integral and Cabinet-wide approach is necessary for the transition to a circular economy. Although this programme was set up under the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (‘the Ministry’), there is intensive cooperation with other ministries.
For the implementation of the Waste to Resource programme, it is important to exert effective influence on policymaking in Europe. The Netherlands is also pursuing a more circular economy outside the EU. The Netherlands exports a lot of knowledge and environmental technology that can help establish a circular economy in other countries. Economic environmental diplomacy makes an important contribution to this goal.
At the start of the programme the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (‘PBL’) will make a general analysis of its likely effects on the environment and on the economy. Progress and effects will be monitored during the programme.
WastetoResource builds upon the Netherlands Waste Prevention Programme that the Netherlands established under the European Waste Framework Directive. This programme is available at:
The programme contains the Ministry’s waste and resource policy. This annex provides an overview of the parliamentary motions and commitments being put into effect as part of the programme.
1.Promoting sustainability at the front of the chain
A circular economy reuses products and raw materials and conserves natural resources. Products are made and marketed in a way that makes them fit perfectly into a circular economy. The creation of closed natural cycles is also promoted. Therefore, the Cabinet is pursuing:
- ensure the circular design of products;
- close local and global cycles.
Ensuring the circular design of products
Circular product design is necessary in order to optimise the sustainable use of products and to recover materials from them. Besides considering the environmental impact at all stages of a product’s life-cycle, a circular design takes into account the product’s recycling, re-use and maintenance. Products are designed to enable environmentally friendly production, sustainable use, simple repairs and effective recycling. The Cabinet wants to continue stimulating circular design in the Netherlands. Together with educational institutions, industry organisations and businesses, a programme is being set up to promote circular design. This includes examining how the business community can get structural access to knowledge and experience. One of the matters under scrutiny is whether a knowledge institute is required and effective for this purpose.
Ecodesign is regulated under the European Ecodesign Directive that will be revised in 2014. The Directive forms the basis for laying down legal requirements – mostly energy-related – for products. The Netherlands advocates widening the scope of the Directive and wants to add material usage to it to ensure that the designs of all products make allowance for recycling. As part of the Waste to Resource programme, there will be an examination of the possibilities for embedding legal requirements for material usage in the Directive. The Dutch findings from this study will be contributed to EU decisionmaking on widening the Directive. The Cabinet also aims to widen the scope of the Ecodesign Directive to include all products, instead of just electrical equipment.
Nationally, packaging is being designed and made more sustainably. Municipalities, producers, importers and central government opened the Kennisinstituut Duurzaam Verpakken(Sustainable Packaging Knowledge Institute) and the Meldpunt Verpakkingen (Packaging Reporting Desk) in 2013. Members of the public can contact the support desk if they have questions about packaging or want to report non-sustainable packaging. At the same time, the Reporting Desk provides a platform for producers and importers to respond to these questions and reports. The direct relationship between manufacturer and consumer serves as an additional stimulus for making their products sustainable. Producers are adapting their packaging thanks to useful and critical ideas put forward by members of the public.
The Cabinet is currently working on a new General Administrative Order for the management of packaging, allowing the highest attainable goals for sustainable packaging to be included in legislation. This follows on from the Packaging Master Agreement 2013-2022 that was concluded with the packaging sector and municipalities and from the Packaging Sustainability Agenda that was sent to the House of Representatives on 2 September 2013. This General Administrative Order will be used to lay down by law that the packaging sector must work structurally towards making packaging more sustainable.
Finally, research is currently underway aimed at defining and establishing the feasibility of a material label (Commitment AO resources and waste, 29 May 2013, 30 872, No. 147). A material label contains information about the composition of and materials used in a product. This facilitates recycling. The research is examining, with the involvement of producers, the material value chains for which voluntary introduction will contribute to the desired transition. The results will be available in spring 2014.
Closing local and global cycles
Closing cycles is not confined to re-using materials from consumer products. Production chains rely on the continuous availability of natural resources. The resources include not only materials, but also natural processes that keep the system running, such as water, carbon and nutrient cycles. Excessive use has put pressure on the continuity of the resources. To use our resources sustainably, it is necessary to close cycles both locally and globally. Synergy is also required between biological and technical cycles.
In order to close technical or biological cycles and achieve synergy locally, it is necessary to use what is present locally instead of obtaining raw materials from far away. Concepts that build upon this idea, such as Blauwe Economie (Blue Economy), are an important source of inspiration for this way of thinking.[1] Producers in the Dutch food and beverage industry in particular are already using smart local combinations. This can include the smart use of locally present ecosystem services and eco-engineering or the utilisation of industrial residual waste via the concept of industrial symbiosis. The Waste to Resource programme is built on the ambition to make the transition from good examples to the widespread use of these concepts. Local authorities have an important role to play in this regard. Local customisation is necessary in order to leverage specific circumstances and this requires knowledge, effort and time. It will be possible to support local initiatives by means of the WastetoResourceLocal programme that makes knowledge available. The programme will be worked out in more detail with municipalities.
In order to close biological cycles it is important to possess an insight into the presence and the condition of the natural resources in the Netherlands and the value that they represent to society. A Digital Atlas of Natural Capital (known by the Dutch acronym DANK) is being developed to obtain an insight into the presence and quality of natural resources. This will inform companies, authorities and the public of the location of particular ecosystems and services. It will then be easier to factor them into the decision-making process on area design and management. By means of the information from DANK, it will be possible to determine the value of the natural resources and thus develop revenue models. Studies into The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) explore the implementation of this approach. In the Natural Capital Implementation Agenda (parliamentary papers TK 26 407, No. 85), the Cabinet stated the actions that it wishes to take to establish the sustainable utilisation of natural capital.
Internationally, the body of scientific knowledge about the sustainable use of natural resources is rapidly increasing. The effective utilisation of this knowledge is crucial. This is something that the Netherlands wants to promote. The UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP) is making this knowledge accessible to policymakers and the business community. In 2014, the Netherlands wants to host the IRP’s 15th conference. The conference will address awareness, research and policy programming.
One of the main global challenges in the sustainable use of natural resources is its financing. Increasingly, the private sector must also make its contribution. Improving the transparency of projects is crucial for this purpose. This programme supports the Green Development Initiative that in 2014 will produce a global register of projects concerning the sustainable use of land. In addition to the preservation and sustainable use of natural resources, the recovery of impaired resources is crucially important. Worldwide, two billion hectares of land have already become greatly degraded and unproductive. The Ecosystem Return Foundation is receiving support from the Cabinet. The foundation wants to remediate millions of hectares of degraded agricultural land together with large investors (public and private). This will greatly reduce the present economic incentive to open up new land.
Most important actions
What / How / Who / When1 / Stimulate circular design / Set up a circular design programme / Central government together with the business community / Year-end 2014
2 / Widen scope of Ecodesign Directive / Study the legal possibilities / Central government / 2014 and beyond
3 / Make packaging more sustainable / Define highest attainable goals in a General Administrative Order / Central government together with the business community / General Administrative Order ready in 2014, in force on 1 January 2015
4 / Create a material label / Conduct a feasibility study / Central government and stakeholders / Ready in Q2 2014
5 / Stimulate preservation of Vital Natural Capital / Digital Natural Capital Atlas / Central government / First version year-end 2014, extending to 2020
6 / Close local cycles / Support other authorities by means ofWastetoResource Local / Central government, provincial authorities and municipalities / Operational in 2015
7 / Finance natural capital / Support the Green Development Initiative and the Ecosystem Return Foundation / Central government / Ready in Q4 2014
2.Making consumption patterns more sustainable
To accelerate the transition to a circular economy, it is important for members of the public to start consuming sustainably. As a major purchaser, the national government also has a possibility to use its purchasing power to speed up the transition. With this in mind the Cabinet wants to:
- develop an approach to sustainable consumption patterns based on behavioural knowledge;
- strengthen the role of the retail sector, thrift stores and repair companies;
- use the purchasing power of the government to create a more circular economy.
Developing an approach to sustainable consumption patterns based on behavioural knowledge
An effort is being made to promote sustainable consumption, which can be achieved by purchasing fewer products and, for example, borrowing, sharing or renting more products. But it can also be accomplished by buying the sustainable variants of products and using and handing them in properly. This will lower the environmental impact of our consumption and will encourage producers to market sustainable products. To achieve this goal effectively it is important to possess knowledge of how consumption behaviour comes about and the possibilities that exist for influencing it. In recent years behavioural science has produced new insights and provided new instruments. Behaviour appears to come about largely unconsciously. Traditional instruments like information campaigns thus appear to have little effect. Incentives (‘nudges’) that make the desired behaviour attractive and easier have a greater effect.
In the textile and food sectors, pilot projects with different influencing instruments are being carried out to increase knowledge of behaviour. The results are expected in early 2014. The Cabinet is also eagerly awaiting the advisory report of the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (RLI) on the influencing of behaviour, which will be published in early 2014. Over the course of 2014, the results of the projects and the Council’s report will be used to develop an approach to make consumption patterns more sustainable. This will include scaling up projects in textile and food, and widening the approach to include other consumer goods, such as personal care products and household appliances. The approach will not be confined to the purchasing phase of products. Knowledge of behaviour will also be used to improve the waste separation behaviour of households, to stimulate the harmonisation of certification labels and to strengthen public support for sustainability. The Cabinet will examine whether it is desirable to ask an organisation to coordinate the acquiring, bundling and disseminating of this behavioural knowledge. These actions will be carried out partly by means of the ‘Duurzaam Doen’ ( Sustainable Action) programme. This programme will be presented in the Cabinet’s letter on the modernisation of environmental policy that will be sent to the House of Representatives early 2014.
Strengthening the role of the retail sector, thrift stores and repair companies
The retail sector is an important partner when it comes to making consumption sustainable. Retailers have the possibility to make the range of products on their shelves sustainable and to make a sustainable choice easy and attractive for consumers. In consultation with the retail sector an assessment will be made of the role they can play in making consumption sustainable. Thrift stores and repair companies fulfil an important role in the use/reuse of products. Together with them there will be an examination of whether the infrastructure for the re-use and repairs of products can be strengthened.
Using the purchasing power of the government to create a circular economy
The government can stimulate the sustainability of offered products by means of its procurement policy. Public bodies should set an example by practicing sustainable procurement. An evaluation of the sustainable procurement policy is expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives in January 2014. It will contain recommendations for making the instruments for sustainable procurement more targeted, simpler and more forwardlooking.
The Circular Procurement Green Deal includes measures that companies and the government will take to increase circular procurement. The knowledge obtained through practical application will be disseminated. There will also be a circular procurement roadmap and circularity will be made an integral part of the procurement processes of the participants.
Most important actions
What / How / Who / When8 / Make consumer behaviour and waste separation more sustainable / Consumer strategy / Central government, business community and civil society organisations / Approach to consumers ready in Q2 2014
Implementation in 2016
9 / Use the retail sector to make consumption more sustainable / Green Deal with retail trade / Central government and retail trade / 2016
10 / Promote re-use and repair / Green Deal with thrift stores and repair companies / In cooperation with sectors / 2015-2016
11 / Sustainable procurement by public bodies / Evaluation of sustainable procurement / Central government / Early 2014
12 / Circular procurement / Carry out Green Deal for Circular Procurement / Public bodies and companies / 2014-2015
3.Improving waste separation and collection
In a circular economy there is no waste. The Cabinet’s ambition is to minimise the volume of recyclable materials ending up in incineration plants. The separation of waste – particularly at the source – is a precondition. The programme seeks to:
- minimise the quantity of residual Dutch waste in incineration plants;
- facilitate municipalities in improving the separation and collection of waste;
- inspire households to improve their separation of waste;
- separate waste from offices, shops and public spaces.
Minimising the quantity of residual Dutch waste in incineration plants
Recyclable materials do not belong in a waste incineration plant. The ambition of the Cabinet is to reduce the quantity of material that ‘leaves’ the economy. Almost 10 million tonnes of material from the Netherlands was still being offered to these plants in 2012. The Cabinet’s ambition is to halve this quantity within ten years. The overcapacity at waste incineration plants must not be allowed to obstruct recycling. Therefore, there will be an examination to identify specific streams that are still being incinerated but could be recycled by (improved) separation, as well as the instruments best suited to stimulate this. Separation at the source is preferable if it is practicable, but there are significant potential efficiency gains in the area of post-collection separation. An effort will be made with the sorting industry in 2014 to increase the effectiveness of post-collection separation. The technical possibilities of the front-runners should become the norm for the entire sector. For this purpose the available technologies and the related costs and benefits will be studied. These analyses will be used to formulate additional policy; a lot is still achievable by using various instruments (such as the National Waste Management Plan, legislation, a Green Deal, or a combination). The prime consideration is that improvement of waste separation is a joint ambition and the way forward will be worked out together with the collection and sorting sector.